pencil

Meanings

Noun

• A paintbrush.
• A writing utensil with a graphite (commonly referred to as lead) shaft, usually blended with clay, clad in wood, and sharpened to a taper.
• An aggregate or collection of rays of light, especially when diverging from, or converging to, a point.
• A family of geometric objects with a common property, such as the set of lines that pass through a given point in a projective plane.
• A small medicated bougie.

Verb

• To write (something) using a pencil.
• To mark with, or as if with, a pencil.

Origin

• From Anglo-Norman and Old French pincil (see the variant pincel, which gave rise to Modern French pinceau), from Latin pēnicillum, diminutive of pēniculus, itself a diminutive of pēnis. Not related to pen.